How did culture play an important role in creating the idea of the ‘nation’ in Europe? Explain with examples.
OR
How were Vietnamese nationalists inspired by Japan and China to set up a democratic republic? Explain with examples.
Culture played an important role in creating the idea of the “nation” in Europe in the following ways.
(i) Romanticism, a cultural movement, sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artists criticised the glorification of reason and Science and focused instead
on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings. Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the basis of a nation.
(ii) Collection and recording forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building. Karol Kurpinski, for example, celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.
(iii) Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere. The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.
OR
(i) Early Vietnamese nationalists had a close relationship with Japan and China. They provided models for those looking for change, a refuge for those who were trying to escape the French police, and a location where a wider Asian network of revolutionaries could be established. In 1907-08, some 300 Vietnamese students went to Japan to acquire modern education. They appealed to the Japanese as fellow Asians and later established a branch of the Restoration Society in Tokyo.
(ii) Developments in China also inspired Vietnamese nationalists. In 1911, the long established monarchy in China was overthrown by a popular movement under Sun Yat-Sen, and a Republic was set up. Inspired by these developments, Vietnamese students established the Association for the Restoration of Vietnam (Viet-Nam Quang Phuc Hoi).
